Waterproof/breathable outerwear?

[chucknelson]

Guys, I'm looking for a good jacket/shell to wear over my fleece layers. No camo, I want durable 3 ply Gore-Tex or Gore-Tex type fabric in some type of earthy tone. Pit zips are a must. Anyone have a recomendation? Thanks.

[bigwhiteys]

Hey Chuck,

A few months ago I just bought a new Helly Hansen "Packable" rain jacket. I too wanted something with pitzips, but all of the jackets I could find WITH them were either made really crappy, too heavy or the pitzips were there just to make up for the fabrics poor breathability. The Helly Stuff seems to be working well so far.

Happy Hunting!
Carl

[Alpine85]

Have a look at some of the Arc'teryx jackets, if you haven't already.

[Tarp Man]

Depends on how much you want to spend. Arc Teryx stuff runs at least $400 and up. WAY up. The other option is to look at Taiga Outerwear in Vancouver. They ship stuff and if you are boycotting a certain well known outdoor retailer in Vancouver because of an ambiguous non/anti hunting stance, they are the next best for customer service on what they make and sell.

[BigBanger]

Ive been wearing taiga for years and love the stuff

[Avalanche123]

ArcTeryx gets my vote. I use their products at work and at play (yep I love their stuff for sheep hunting and if need be, I wear a grey wool stanfield over the jacket as it cuts down on the noise.) I was just in their Van clearance store (by the way, you can get their factory seconds for significantly cheaper!!!) in North Van and noticed that they even have a few fanny packs in camo. When I was sheep hunting this fall I purposely took a few "posing pictures" wearing their gear and I plan to contact them to see if they will consider targeting the hunting community.

By the way, all their seams are heat sealed and guaranteed not to leak. I am yet to get wet wearing their gear.

"An obvious fan" of their products"

[Wildfoot]

Arcteryx. Everything else is second best.

Marmot has lots of QC issues. I have returned 3 jackets, 1 tent and 2 sleeping bags to that company. My marmot 3ply goretex delaminated after only 3 years. But their driclime jacket is one awesome layer (although of the 15 i bought I returned 2 of them because the seam allowances were not long enough and seams came apart right away)

Sierra Designs is OK, but I find the fit kinda weird for all their clothing.

Mammut is OK, but overpriced for the quality

Helly Hansen is OK, but tend not to have the same quality of some other brands. And any Helly goretex ive worn is bulky and has lots of unneeded seams. Helly hansen usually doesnt use Gore-Tex brand laminates, and most are not even laminates but coatings. These do not breathe as well, or if they are very breathable they dont hold out the water as well. IMO the helly-tech coating sucks donkey balls. may as well get a rubber helly rain slicker.

MEC makes good shells, but I havent looked at any of their stuff in the last 5 years.. and their QC was getting pretty bad back then (started manufacturing a lot overseas)

Columbia is a joke.

Ive never heard anything bad about mountain hardware jackets... but, like mammut its overpriced

Black Diamond (dunno if they even make 3plys yet) has one of the highest return rates out of any outdoor equipment company. Their QC SUCKS!

OR makes awesome gear, but its pretty hard to find.

Patagonia (Pattagucci) is good stuff.. but overpriced.

Probably more manufactures.. thats about all I have tried. I will not go anywhere other than arcteryx now. Plus made in vancouver is pretty sweet. Although 700 bucks is pretty steep for a jacket, you do get the comfort of knowing that it is very unlikely that the jacket will break when you need it most. My current shell is a softshell/gore tex hybrid from arcteryx. I bought it in 2001 and it is still going strong - no rips, all seams are fine, no delam in the shoulders (packs rubbing on goretex tends to delam the layers), still very water tight (except the softshell!). I just wish the chain oil, motor oil, pine sap, and other stains would wash out lol.

Id stick with brand name Gore-Tex and look for the guarnteed for extreme weather label.. That label means that that make of jacket was sent to Gore's labs for their own testing. Id stay away from 3 ply and 2 ply coatings.. a laminate is much better. Laminates tend to breathe better and are 3 actual layers of fabric instead of just a spray on coating on the shell material.

The Goretex Paclite is good stuff.. but a little too fragile for heavy use. The shell material is something else to look at Read up on nylon vs polyester for the shell material (google should provide some useful info on this). The waterproof zippers are nice, but need some break in time since they are stiffer (this can be annoying on pit zips that dont want to unzip).

Bring your packs with you when you fit jackets. Make sure the pockets and pit zips are accessible while wearing your pack. Look for goofy seams in any pressure points (shoulders, back, hips) they will wear quickly and also cause you grief and pain while hiking.